For the past ten years I have been working with college students who have ADHD, dyslexia and other specific learning disabilities. While the learning and thinking differences of my students often provide them with challenges and cause frustration, I have also come to appreciate the many positive facets of these differences.
LD OnLine is sharing the positive side of learning disabilities. Learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, dyslexia, and other challenges can often present possibilities for personal growth and achievement.
This book tells the stories of eight people who never stopped trying. From humiliation in school and the anxiety of coping with everyday life unable to read street signs and menus, to shopping, driving, and working, these people lived in a world of dashed hopes and dreams — regardless of outward appearances — until they discovered their learning disability and unlocked their true gifts. Anyone who has ever endured a failure in school will appreciate the heartache of people who knew nothing but failure, yet held great potential.
Called “retarded,” “lazy,” “immature,” “delinquent,” and more, they managed to get by, all the while thinking that deep down they were worthless people—that everything anyone ever said about them was true. Except, as they would discover later in life, it wasn’t. Proceeds from the sale of The Pretenders will be used to further the work of the H.E.L.P. Program.
Karen J. Foli’s memoir, Like Sound Through Water: A Mother’s Journey Through Auditory Processing Disorder, describes her three-year process of discovery. During these years, she searched for the answers to her son’s severe delays in speech and comprehension.
In order to adopt research-based practices for teaching reading, teachers must be supported with quality professional development that helps them develop an extensive knowledge and skills base. This guide, written by Learning First Alliance (an organization of twelve national education associations), calls for changes in the context, process, and content of professional development in reading.
Created by members of Monmouth University, this list of practical tools and resources will help K-12 teachers put the Internet to good use in their classrooms. The list provides tools, forms, templates, checklists, and interactive activities that will help to create Web sites, lessons, puzzles, rubrics, projects, games and more.
Frank R. Brown III, Elizabeth H. Aylward, Barbara K. Keogh
The first step is for educators to recognize anxiety, as it presents itself in a variety of ways in the classroom. Here are some behaviors exhibited by students attempting to manage anxious feelings:
